Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 5 Oct 2022

The Rt. Hon. Lord John McFall will address the House in accordance with the order of Seanad Éireann on 28 September. I ask him to come to the floor of the Seanad.

It is my pleasure to welcome Lord McFall to Ireland, to Leinster House and to the Chamber of Seanad Éireann. We look forward to his address. His great-grandfather left County Tyrone for Scotland many years ago. Countless Irish people left that county to go to the United States, including the ancestor of Woodrow Wilson. If Lord McFall's great-grandfather had gone west instead of east he might be addressing us as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, given his very clear political skill and acumen. Maybe he would be addressing as President of the United States, if things had worked out differently.

I thank Lord McFall for being here. His knowledge and interest in Ireland is clear. His work in the Northern Ireland Office and his close support of those who played such a pivotal role in the peace process was vital at that time. One of those he worked very closely with was the late Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, who I am sure was a great friend of his. In 1998, he was the first minister from the United Kingdom to be on the scene of the Omagh bombing on that sad day just hours after it happened. He met family members of those killed or injured by that bombing in the days and weeks that followed and he said that event and those meetings made a real, lasting impression on him, and shaped him politically and personally. His visit is an important opportunity to renew and reinforce his ties to Ireland.

I express my appreciation to Lord McFall for affording me the opportunity to visit the House of Lords in October 2021 and the role he played in welcoming my colleague, the Ceann Comhairle, Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl, to the Palace of Westminster this summer. Regular, constructive and collaborative connections between the Oireachtas and the Parliament of the United Kingdom are vitally important. In a period when our two Governments have taken quite different positions on policy, keeping political channels of engagement open is key. The Seanad has developed a great appreciation for the role of the House of Lords and the role it plays in bringing balance to legislation and public debate in the United Kingdom. In this new post-Brexit era, I believe bilateral relations between Ireland and the United Kingdom will continue to be of unique and fundamental importance.

We share joint stewardship of the Good Friday Agreement. While some have not always lived up to the ideals embodied in that agreement and the commitments given, we must work together. It is the only true pathway forward. Our economic relationships remain extensive and profound, benefiting both sides, and include huge flows of goods, services and people in both directions at all times. Our expanding embassy presence in London, our newly launched consulates in Cardiff and Manchester, and our new bilateral frameworks with Lord McFall's home of Scotland have been significant steps in recent years.

The UK ambassador to Ireland, H.E. Paul Johnston, was present when the Seanad marked the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Following her passing, we reflected deeply in this country on her legacy and her contribution to British-Irish relations and the peace process. Queen Elizabeth's visit to Ireland in 2011, and especially her use of the Irish language, were watershed moments in the relationship between our two islands. Building on those firm foundations of the Good Friday Agreement, Queen Elizabeth helped to usher in a new era of mutual respect, close partnership and sincere friendship between Ireland and Britain.

Across the European Continent, and in British-Irish relations, we are best when we work together as partners. I hope that in the years to come efforts to develop Ireland-UK bilateral relations to their fullest extent will succeed. I thank the Lord Speaker for joining us.

A thousand thanks for the invitation and the kind welcome. It is a wonderful thing to be in Dublin today. It is a particular pleasure to address Seanad Éireann. I am deeply honoured to be the first Speaker of the United Kingdom's House of Lords to do this. I am delighted to be here in person. Our parliaments worked wonders with technology to keep us functioning during the pandemic but nothing will ever match face-to-face engagement. I thank the Cathaoirleach for his invitation. As he mentioned, this is a return match following our meeting in Westminster one year ago. I was also pleased to meet the Ceann Comhairle, Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl, when he visited Westminster in June. I send him my best wishes for a speedy and full recovery.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for writing to express his condolences on behalf of the Seanad following the sad death of Her Majesty last month. I am grateful for the words of sympathy expressed by him and others in this Chamber on 14 September, for the kind gesture of opening a book of condolence, the holding of a minute's silence in both Chambers, and the many expressions of support from across the country. I was heartened to see both the Taoiseach and the President in London at the funeral of Her Majesty. The sympathy and support brings home to me the closeness of the relationship between our two countries.

That is my main theme for today and for my visit.

As others have done, I recall Her Majesty's state visit to Ireland in 2011 and some of the memorable moments of that remarkable visit, including her embrace of the Irish language, the wreath-laying ceremony in the Garden of Remembrance and her visit to Croke Park. I also recall the return visit by President Michael D. Higgins three years later, when he addressed both Houses of the United Kingdom Parliament in the Royal Gallery, just next to the Chamber of the House of Lords. I particularly recall how warmly those two great leaders were received and how those visits did so much to help the relationship strengthen between our nations.

Speaking in this Chamber I want to highlight the important role the Seanad has played in the political life of Ireland and over the past century. In its centenary year, I acknowledge the continued importance of this historic Chamber. I thank the Members of this Seanad for their invaluable work. I have greatly enjoyed reading about the year-long programme of events to mark the centenary of the Seanad, such as Minority Voices, Major Changes. I wish the Seanad well with its centenary sitting in December.

We know there are differences but there is much that unites us. I think about the roles of our respective Chambers. Each has a crucial and perhaps unappreciated role, both revising and advisory. Both Chambers have long played an important part in making sure the wide range of views, including minority views, can be heard in our parliamentary systems. There are some differences. I have recently learned that there have been around 830 Senators in total in the 100-year history of the Seanad. That is only a few more than the current membership of the House of Lords. This at least helps me to understand why my role as a providing officer can feel so challenging at times. I understand that the Seanad is taking on a scrutiny role in the adoption of European Union laws. Though the United Kingdom is no longer a member of the EU, this is the type of scrutiny role with which the House of Lords, often working through all-party committees, is familiar. I am certain we have much to learn from each other about how we can fulfil our responsibilities effectively.

Looking ahead I hope we will be able to continue and enhance the co-operation and engagement between Members of our two Chambers. That is one of the ways we can make our contribution to resolving the uncertainties and difficulties in the relationships across these islands and involving the European Union. The House of Lords has taken a close interest in this matter and Members will be aware that the UK's Northern Ireland Protocol Bill is due to receive its Second Reading in the House of Lords next Tuesday, 11 October. Before taking up the post of Lord Speaker, as Senior Deputy Speaker I led the reorganisation of the committee system in the House of Lords. This included the appointment of a Sub-Committee on the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland. It is unique in that the House of Commons has no equivalent. The committee is chaired by Lord Michael Jay, former head of the UK Foreign Office and an experienced diplomat. He has been a regular visitor to the Houses of the Oireachtas. The committee also includes members with wide-ranging expertise, including a former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, a former Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland and former leaders and deputy leaders of three of the political parties in Northern Ireland, representing both the unionist and nationalist communities. In conversations I had with Lord Jay and a number of members of the committee, my visit was universally welcomed with enthusiasm. The committee has a determination to make a useful contribution to scrutiny of the protocol and its operation. It has consistently stressed the need for dialogue, constructive engagement, the building - and in some cases rebuilding - of trust and relationship building. One key aspect of this has been its invaluable bilateral dialogue with committees of the Oireachtas and I know it will continue to prioritise this dialogue in the coming months. As the committee said in its introductory report:

The tensions over the Protocol currently seem insoluble. Yet that was also true of the political situation in Northern Ireland during the Troubles [and I am personal witness to that]. But through a slow and painstaking process led by political leaders in Northern Ireland and successive governments in London and Dublin, the peace process took root and flourished, leading to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the subsequent steps towards a power-sharing arrangement. This process took time, patience, dialogue, and most of all trust. The same is true in addressing the problems that Brexit and the Protocol present for Northern Ireland. There is therefore an urgent imperative for all sides to make concerted efforts to build trust by recommitting themselves to that process of dialogue, repairing the damage caused to relations across these islands during the past five years, in the interests, as the Protocol rightly acknowledges, of communities in both Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Therefore I am delighted with the news that talks between the UK Government and the European Union are to resume and that the political weather seems to be improving.

In my role as Lord Speaker of the House of Lords, I must be strictly politically impartial, representing the whole House. This is an essential part of the trust that Members, from all parties and none, place in me to perform my duties even-handedly. That said, I want to offer some personal reflections. At the end of 1990, I was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Northern Ireland Office. I was proud to play a role in the huge steps that were taken then and I saw at first hand the value of taking time to build relationships and foster trust. I saw the patient diplomacy of so many, including the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and Senator George Mitchell from the United States. I was then a Labour MP and a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State but we were all happy to acknowledge that we were building on the good work started quietly, patiently and under the radar by John Major's Conservative Administration, working closely with the Administrations led by Albert Reynolds and John Bruton. I also want to acknowledge the leadership and courage over that period of Northern Ireland politicians such as the late John Hume, Seamus Mallon and my good friend, David Trimble, whose funeral in Lisburn I was honoured to attend, along with the Taoiseach, the President and the former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. One of the touching elements of that day was seeing Bertie Ahern go out at the end of the funeral and touch David Trimble's coffin. That band of trust was there for all of us and we do not want to lose it.

It is inspiring to think we are looking forward next year to celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, signed back in 1998. What lessons did I learn from seeing this at close hand and from playing my small part? I learned that to reach agreements in the most difficult circumstances we have to be willing to do uncomfortable things. We have to try to see the issue from the other person's perspective, we have to recognise historical differences and nonetheless decide to work together and we must set aside any thoughts of our own advantage. We must also show courage and take risks in the pursuit of worthwhile goals. I addressed students at University College Dublin, UCD, yesterday.

My final remarks to them were that politics is hard and politics is difficult when you have to make choices, so just remember that. In my address to the Senators, I say that if they talk to any of their friends and say the Lord Speaker was here talking to Senators, they should say it was John McFall but not to leave it at John McFall. Say, our friend John McFall, because my visit is all about friendship. We must ensure we have the right structures and opportunities for our representatives to come together. I pay tribute to the valuable role of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, which brings together Senators and Teachta Dála from the Oireachtas and Lords and MPs from Westminster. This body also includes members from the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments and the legislators of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, which makes the BIPA the only parliamentary assembly with membership across these islands.

It was my great honour to host the BIPA members of the House of Lords during the most recent plenary session in February. I hope we will be able to welcome everyone back to Westminster in the near future. In fact, Deputy Brendan Smith chaired that BIPA meeting and I reminded him that in my post-ministerial life, I made an informal visit to the Dáil and sat in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery. I was not in any official position on that occasion and I think the Speaker was Seán Treacy. I recall that, at the beginning he stood up and welcomed me, but in welcoming me he said, "We wish to give a warm welcome to the Canadian Prime Minister."

I engaged in frantic gestures as a result. Brian Mulroney was the Prime Minister of Canada at the time, so I think Seán got my message and he said in a very slick manner, "Well, whoever you are, you are most welcome." Outside the venue Dick Spring passed me and bowed saying, "Good afternoon, Prime Minister." That time was my little bit of sunshine.

I know that the Houses of the Oireachtas are looking forward to hosting the 62nd plenary later this month in Cavan. I thank Senators and Deputies in the Oireachtas delegation for their contribution to the work of the assembly, including the Vice Chair, Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile, the committee Chair, Senator Emer Currie, the Co-Chair, Deputy Brendan Smith, and all of the Senators and Deputies who play such a valuable role in the delegation.

I was a member of the British-Irish parliamentary body from the 1980s. We did not have any substantial agendas but we spoke together and talked extensively. We enjoyed our social life together and I compliment you on having such a good social life here. What our meetings did when we came to the Good Friday Agreement and the peace process was to ensure we knew each other and that we had a level of understanding. I was the Minister of Education, Training and Health in Northern Ireland and the current Taoiseach was the Minister for Education in the South at the time, so we have known each other for quite a long time. This morning, I had a meeting with the Taoiseach and he gave me extensive time. The engagement I had with him felt like that of old friends meeting again, and that is what I am looking for in the future relationship between the Parliament in Westminster and the Houses of the Oireachtas.

I welcome the recent establishment of an Ireland-UK Parliamentary Friendship Group, under the leadership of Senator Lisa Chambers. I am sure this group will make a valuable contribution to strengthening Ireland-UK parliamentary links. Lisa has an open invitation to contact my office or come and see me any time.

I would like to take this unique opportunity to extend an invitation to Members of the Oireachtas, including the new friendship group, to come to Westminster for meetings with their counterparts. The informality of meetings is important; it is not the formality of them. When meetings are made formal, then there are rules and regulations and there are obstacles. I want to encourage that informal approach because I want to keep working to develop and strengthen the ties between our two Chambers. I hope these will become regular meetings.

Let me talk about the importance of community engagement. As important as contact between Parliaments is, we must never stop engaging with our communities. Even though this is necessarily a brief trip, I had a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting visit yesterday, as I mentioned, to University College Dublin's centre for peace and conflict research. I spoke to the students there, who are highly engaged and thoughtful about the roles of the House of Lords within the British Constitution. I look forward to my visit this afternoon to the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation because it is the community that matters very much and I want to understand that. When I visited Northern Ireland last year, I went to a community engagement. I visited the Shankill Women's Centre on the Shankill Road to engage with the people there, because if we are going to have solidity in our relationships, then there must be trust in the community. That is a non sequitur.

The close relationship between our two Parliaments is a reflection of the long-established social and family relationships between the people of our countries. There are hundreds of thousands of people who were born in Ireland and now live in the United Kingdom and UK-born people who now live in Ireland. These are people who enrich and enliven our societies and economies to our huge mutual benefit. My region in the west of Scotland has a long-established Irish community that has greatly influenced and enriched our cultural life. It would be wrong of me to get sidetracked at this point and highlight our close sporting connections just so that I could mention the result of last week's football match between Scotland and Ireland at Hampden Park. I shall avoid doing that.

Regarding reasons for us to work together, our bonds are strong and enduring, but I know the Cathaoirleach and Senators will agree that co-operation has never been more necessary. We live in difficult and very uncertain times. There are so many areas that require us to rise to the challenge and where we are stronger when we work together. One of my most vivid memories of my parliamentary career is the address to Members of both Houses of the UK Parliament by President Zelenskyy of Ukraine in March. I was similarly moved when I watched the broadcast of President Zelenskyy's address to this Parliament in April. As I said at the parliamentary assembly meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, when it met in Birmingham in July, there are some things about which we cannot and we must not be neutral. We must be resolute in defending democratic values and the fundamental importance of human rights, and responding to acts of aggression. I applaud the generosity and the famous hospitality of the people in Ireland in offering welcome and shelter to so many people from Ukraine and, indeed, to other refugees.

Energy and climate change are obvious critical areas where we must show leadership and continue to work closely together. We must listen to one another and we must hear what other people say, because the curse of modern society is that we hear people but we do not listen, which is exacerbated by social media. That listening and making time for other people is an essential characteristic of our relationship.

Although I am the first Lord Speaker to speak in this historic Chamber, I trust that I will not be the last. Let us build enduring relationships between our two Parliaments. Let us work together with energy and in good faith to build warmth and trust between our great historic nations.

I welcome the Lord Speaker to our Upper House. As he said, it is an awful lot smaller and more intimate than the House of Lords but he is very welcome. It was mentioned that we held a minute's silence in the presence of the British ambassador, H.E. Mr. Paul Johnston, a number of weeks ago. I think we can all agree the outpouring of sorrow throughout the world demonstrated the enormous regard in which the British Queen was held through her 70-year reign. The nicest comment I heard came from Emmanuel Macron, when he said of the British people that she was their queen but that to the rest of us in the world, she was "the queen". I thought that was a fitting tribute.

I believe Lord McFall of Alcluith is the first Lord Speaker to hail from Scotland, a country that, as he will be well aware, is similar to our own in terms of culture, music, language, scenery and, for better or worse, the weather. Ours are both sporting nations, as he mentioned, and while Scotland might have the upper hand when it comes to football, he will not mind us gloating us a little bit when it comes to rugby because we have to have something. I am also told he has served as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on scotch whisky. Some of my colleagues here might take note. We have never had one of those here but it is a committee membership that I think people would be slightly envious of, so he might tell us more about it over lunch.

Like many of us, Lord McFall of Alcluith hails from humble beginnings, in Dumbarton, Scotland, but he has had what can only be described as an illustrious career to date. In his time at Westminster, he has been Lord Commissioner of the Treasury and was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for nine years. He was also chair of the Treasury Select Committee and senior deputy speaker of the House of Lords. He now holds the distinguished title of Lord Speaker and I am absolutely sure it is well deserved, so I congratulate him on that.

Having served in the Northern Ireland Office in the year that followed the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, he is no stranger to our island, its past and present and, I hope, its bright future. As was mentioned, he was the first British Minister to arrive in Omagh following that dreadful bombing in 1998 and he knows the political will it took to reach the Good Friday Agreement after decades of sectarian conflict and violence. He knows that previous attempts at peace resulted in deadlock, but the efforts of numerous men and women have all but secured a better future for this generation and the generations to come. He will also know, however, that a better future for Northern Ireland is not guaranteed, and that is what I would like to touch on today as the Leader of this House and the head of the Fine Gael group in the Seanad.

The British Queen's visit to Ireland, which was mentioned earlier, marked a significant high point in the relations between the United Kingdom and Ireland. While our relationship has remained strong, neighbours sometimes have disagreements. Unfortunately, as we can all agree, the recent years that have passed since the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU, which we respect, have represented a turbulent time in our relationship. The Irish Government has continuously expressed its disapproval of the British Government's Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, for example. It is unlawful and damaging and adds to the existing uncertainty in the North, especially in Border communities and the business community. We have also, particularly in this House, wholeheartedly condemned the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, which seeks to offer an amnesty to the perpetrators of heinous crimes that were carried out during the Troubles. I believe the draft legislation is reprehensible and, on the record of this House, I again urge the British Government to take the time to listen to the victims and families who are still waiting for justice. In the face of all this and of a deepening cost-of-living crisis that is not unique to any of our countries, Northern Ireland is still without a fully functioning Assembly or a new Executive following the elections in May, and we all know how regrettable that is.

While the Lord Speaker is impartial to a tee and he could not possibly remark on some of those sentiments, I know he will agree dialogue must always remain open between our countries and our Governments. He talked briefly about how important relationships are and I could not agree with him more. They are the only thing that will break that political deadlock. I thank John, our friend, for coming to address us today and look forward to spending some time with him over the course of his visit.

I welcome Lord McFall of Alcluith here for this address. I am speaking on behalf of the Fianna Fáil group in the Seanad. I had the pleasure of meeting him last night and again this morning with the Parliamentary Friendship Group. It was clear from our meetings, and from having read much about him in preparation for the visit, that he has a passion for both Northern Ireland and Ireland and a clear and in-depth understanding of the challenges our island faces both North and South. His work in the Northern Ireland office, and his being on the ground so shortly after the Omagh bombing, is a tribute and testament to his character and to his commitment to resolving the ongoing issues we face.

I have reflected on his comments this morning on the loss of institutional knowledge, whereby those who were there almost 25 years ago when the Good Friday Agreement was signed are no longer working at the forefront of these challenging issues. That is a very important point. There is much knowledge and expertise that we are not drawing to the extent that we could. He referred to Tony Blair, Bertie Ahern, Martin Mansergh and others, and there is scope to bring those people back to work on this issue because they have knowledge and expertise to offer.

The British Embassy did great work in organising Lord McFall of Alcluith's trip here and in working with all of us. It has done a remarkable job, amid testing times over the past six years, of maintaining that dialogue and connection between our two countries. It has done much behind-the-scenes work, which is often not seen but is very important.

Lord McFall of Alcluith mentioned earlier that he has removed his armour as a politician and is now a "facilitator". He is not overtly political but, obviously, in his heart, he has political views he still holds. Brexit is still a key issue for us, even if other issues have overshadowed it in recent years, such as the cost-of-living crisis and the war in Ukraine. I take great solace in the reigniting of discussions, such as was seen in the recent call between the UK Foreign Secretary, Mr. James Cleverly, and Maroš Šefčovič on 30 September. Things are moving again, and there has been commentary that the mood music and the tone of the British Government has changed. That is to be welcomed and we want to work towards a solution. The comments following that phone call indicated we had to bring predictability and certainty to Brexit, which is what the Northern Ireland protocol is all about.

One item of legislation that is working its way through the British Parliament is the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. We have great difficulties with it, although I know the House of Lords will do its best to analyse that and provide scrutiny of the legislation. Other legislation relates to legacy issues, as our House Leader mentioned, which are very important to us. There are few issues where all of us on this island absolutely agree, but on that issue and that legislation we are united in our opposition and we reiterate that point in the strongest possible way.

As we approach the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, an event on which we all have our own views as to how we should mark, it is important to acknowledge we have come a long way but the peace is in progress. It is never complete and it must be maintained and protected. We can never take it for granted.

I thank Lord McFall of Alcluith for being the first Lord Speaker to come to this House, although he will probably not be the last. I am sure he has set a precedent. I also thank our Cathaoirleach, Senator Mark Daly, for making the arrangements for this sitting.

On behalf of the Independent Group, I welcome Lord McFall, whom I met last night. I thank him for hosting that wonderful lunch at the pavilion at the Palace of Westminster for the members of the British-Irish Parliamentary Association, BIPA. There are a number of BIPA members here today. It is a very important organisation. I thank Lord McFall for visiting in this important year for us, the centenary of the Seanad. Ireland and the UK both operate a bicameral parliamentary system and, therefore, we understand the checks and balances and tensions, at times, there can be in a bicameral parliamentary system, but it is a good system.

I was conscious, both last night and when I spoke to him at the Palace of Westminster, that Lord McFall of Alcluith had an unusual entry into politics, having studied chemistry and been a teacher of maths. He left school as a young teenager, in what were difficult times for him, but he had a social conscience and a concern for welfare and equality issues that drove and motivated him. He has woven those convictions through every aspect of his life and that is quite outstanding. He took an unusual route into politics and little could he have known at 15 years old that not only would he be elected as first speaker of the House of Lords but that he would one day address the Irish Parliament.

Our Leader has touched on the significance of the Lord Speaker being Scottish. There are also Welsh people. There are a lot of commonalities across these islands. We have a shared interest in culture and history and shared experiences, which must never be forgotten. I thank him. Lord McFall of Alcluith put great emphasis on language. Friendships and relationships are important. So are words and so is language. Our Leader spoke about Queen Elizabeth and the famous speech she gave when she came to Dublin Castle in which she spoke a few words of Irish. Last Friday, the select committee addressed the constitutional debate on the island of Ireland in this Chamber. The Rev. Kyle Paisley opened by speaking and acknowledging the Cathaoirleach as Gaeilge. That was profound. They were simple words. It is really important. Language is important. It also shows an understanding and respect for that difference. We do not have to oppose each other. We have uniquenesses and differences but we also have many shared objectives, issues and experiences. I know the Lord Speaker is committed to building on that friendship and that partnership.

As I said, he hosted that reception for the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, BIPA. I acknowledge the importance of that assembly. As Lord McFall of Alcluith rightly said, it is the only assembly of parliaments across these islands that meets on a regular basis. I will make an ask of him. When he goes back to the Westminster, I ask him to use his power and influence to see how we can expand the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly and continue to build on those relationships. I acknowledge and thank Lord Alf Dubs. The Lord Speaker spoke about friendship. Lord Dubs is a great colleague of his and a great friend to Ireland. I also acknowledge Deputy Feighan, the Minister of State, and Deputy Brendan Smith, the co-chair of BIPA, as champions. They have done great work in building relationships, friendships and shared experiences between the islands.

To touch on what Senator Chambers said, I acknowledge the British Embassy officials here today and their sterling work. I acknowledge the important work of the British and Irish Embassies and their staff as well as the sensitivities around diplomacy in the diplomatic missions and the work they undertake. I have no doubt that we are in good stead with their quiet work, which paves the way for negotiations and meaningful discussions between these islands. Peace, reconciliation and prosperity on the island of Ireland is important. I acknowledge and thank the Taoiseach for his shared island initiative. We do not need to keep waiting for change. We need to talk now, today, next week, next month and next year about what we can do to share respect and to continue building our relationships. I say to the people of Scotland and Wales who are also seeking their identity that they should acknowledge that. I hope we can work collectively in the short term through our work in BIPA. I ask the Lord Speaker to use his good strong influence and the respect he commands within the Palace of Westminster to explore how we can continue to develop BIPA.

On behalf of the Green Party, I extend a very warm welcome to Seanad Éireann to Lord McFall of Alcluith. He is a reforming voice in his own House and, in many respects, his quest for reform of the House of Lords mirrors an appetite for real reform of Seanad Éireann. For instance, he is on record as saying that he would like to see the House of Lords as a vibrant outward-facing legislature that reaches out as widely as possible. He has described himself as a change agent. We could do with more change agents in this jurisdiction. I was interested in another comment of his in which he said that muscular unionism does not work and has to adapt. In respect of adapting, I would say to those who have legitimate concerns that the basis of the protocol is to avoid a hard border, a situation that is unavoidable where an EU frontier meets the frontier of a third country outside of the customs union and the Single Market. Brexit has caused us to peer under the bandage of the healing and precious peace process on the island. What we now see is not likely to have been envisaged at the time of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, the emergence of a new third force in Irish politics North of the Border, an identity that is neither unionist nor nationalist but that is comfortable being Irish, British and European. This is an ideology grounded in a politics that is more interested in bread-and-butter issues than in the division of identity politics. I believe this is the future.

The protocol gives Northern Ireland a unique place in the three universes it inhabits. First, it is unique in the United Kingdom in that it has full access to the joint European market and its citizens, by reason of their Irish identity, have full rights to EU citizenship. Second, it is unique in the European Union in that it has full access to the British market and that its citizens, by reason of their British identity, have full rights to British citizenship. Third, it is unique on the island of Ireland in that it has the best of both worlds, something that people in the South do not enjoy to the same extent.

I was struck by the comments of Sorcha Eastwood MLA of the Alliance Party, which had a very good election North of the Border. Shortly after her election in Lagan Valley, she is reported to have said that only two people mentioned concerns about the protocol on the doorsteps. As a member of an all-island party, the Green Party, I am personally unaware of any person mentioning it to a canvasser on the doorsteps. That is not to say it is not a very serious issue for some. It clearly is but I call for the required perspective. I note that, over the weekend, one of the Lord Speaker's successors in the Northern Ireland Office, Steve Baker MP, apologised, saying that he was really sorry that relations with Ireland are not where they should be. It takes a brave person to apologise. I believe this apology should be accepted at face value and that we should all move on together with genuine intent and accelerated urgency.

I commend the leaders of Scottish nationalism and of Irish nationalism and republicanism on the respectful way they conducted themselves on the occasion of the recent passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. They are proud, confident and dignified in their beliefs but the respectful way they conducted themselves at the time of what many on the island found to be a very sad loss portrayed them in a very positive light to a global audience. In acting in this way, I believe they advanced their causes. Lord McFall of Alcluith's presence here today advances the cause of better Anglo-Irish relations at this critically important time. I thank him for visiting us today and addressing Seanad Éireann.

Cuirim fearadh na fáilte roimh an Phríomh-Thiarna agus roimh a chomhghleacaithe ó Ambasáid na Breataine atá linn don ócáid stairiúil seo. The Lord Speaker is very welcome. In preparing my brief remarks for today, I wanted to see if there was a Gaelic term for "Lord Speaker". Surprisingly, there is not so I made one up. That is the great strength of the Irish language.

I hope the official translation hub in the Oireachtas will run with it and that we have just had another historic wee moment in the Seanad. The Cathaoirleach mentioned that the Lord Speaker's people are from the great county of Tyrone, the O'Neill county with its own proud history, rich in Gaelic lords, chiefs and history. It does not have a bad football side either at the minute. He also spoke about a number of what-ifs. If the Lord Speaker's father or grandfather had gone west, might he have come back as the Speaker of the House of Representatives? The Cathaoirleach failed to say that if that ancestor had stayed in Tyrone, the Lord Speaker might be in his seat. Nevertheless, it is good to have him in the particular seat he is occupying this afternoon.

I will move to more serious matters. What resonated with me was Lord McFall's institutional memory and experience of negotiating and bedding in the Good Friday Agreement. I respectfully say that is something that has been sorely lacking in the British Government in recent years. Much like the Good Friday Agreement itself was a compromise, as Lord McFall knows, the protocol that is so prominent in political life at the moment is also a compromise. The threat posed to the Good Friday Agreement to peace and progress in Ireland, to our economy and society has been Brexit. The protocol is helping to attract investment and create jobs throughout Ireland. Lord McFall knows that international agreements and international law must be upheld. The protocol must be built upon, not undermined.

The Cathaoirleach mentioned Lord McFall's attendance at the scene of the Omagh bombing and Lord McFall reflected that he will be heading to Glencree later this afternoon. As other colleagues have rightly said - this Seanad unanimously rejected the British Government's legacy proposals in a motion brought by Senator Currie - the amnesty Bill is an affront to democracy and justice and it is rejected by every party on this island and by many parties on Lord McFall's island.

A key component throughout Lord McFall's address was the importance of dialogue and engagement. I agree with him on that wholeheartedly. In a week where some have engaged in some very reckless, regressive and dangerous sabre rattling about the funeral and burial of the Good Friday Agreement, the onus is on all of us, no matter our position – non-political, civic, academic, community, voluntary, cultural and arts – not least the co-guarantors of the agreement in the form of the British and Irish Governments, to ensure it is defended, upheld and above all else, fully implemented.

In the centenary year of the Seanad, it is great to have Lord McFall here. As one of the Vice Chairs of the Irish delegation to the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, I thank him for hosting us at Westminster and giving us his contribution and hospitality that day. As I have already said, and as other colleagues have rightly reflected, the great strength and lesson of the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements is the ability to come together to talk, understand each other, hear each other and to cut through a lot of the noise. I am lucky to have someone who was involved with some of the tentative and early days of the peace process working with me in my office and he always encourages me to light a candle rather than curse the dark.

I am very pleased to welcome the Lord Speaker to Ireland and to this Chamber on behalf of the Civil Engagement Group. In my capacity as a member of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, we are in regular contact with British and Northern Irish parliamentarians. I have found the engagement between our institutions to be stimulating and fruitful. I know that developing a relationship is a major concern of Lord McFall. I find his work in this area to be incredibly valuable. He knows himself, from his time as a Northern Ireland Minister in the late 1990s, how significant the Good Friday Agreement is to the future of the island and to relationships between our islands. I hope he will agree with me, as we approach the 25th anniversary of the agreement, that we all need to reaffirm our commitment to it.

When I first visited Westminster as part of a parliamentary delegation in the wake of Brexit, I found that it was sometimes difficult for people to understand the impact that Britain leaving the EU would have on the fragile institutions of Northern Ireland and the British-Irish relationship. However, we received a very warm welcome in the House of Lords. I found the Members there to be very knowledgeable and genuinely concerned about Ireland. Many of the people I talked to held Government positions during and immediately after the Good Friday Agreement and so understood its value and that it was the product of extensive negotiations based on mutual respect and a real effort to understand fundamentally different perspectives.

I note the comments from the Northern Ireland Office Minister, Steve Baker, who apologised to Ireland and the EU for some bad-faith behaviour on the part of Britain in its withdrawal negotiations. I echo the Taoiseach in welcoming these comments. It is brave to admit when one has done wrong, and it is an important gesture for those of us on both sides of the Irish Sea who are eager to begin the process of repairing our diplomatic relationship. Britain and Ireland's histories are inextricably linked. The migration between us means that there are many people with fluid, hybrid identities - people who are British and Irish. It is only right that as neighbours we have a strong and stable relationship, but that requires trust, respect and understanding. These are crucial but, unfortunately, they are being undermined by recent actions of the British Government. The attempts by Britain to unilaterally alter the terms of the Northern Ireland protocol are massively concerning. It threatens the stability and prosperity of Northern Ireland and the freedom of movement across the Border in Ireland.

I live in Dublin, but my father's family is from Rathlin Island, an island between Scotland and Ireland, which is just off the coast of Antrim. I have spent time there since childhood and I still do. I am one of the many people who regularly travel between the North and the Republic. My family history transcends the Border on this island and I, like every other Irish person, will not be impeded because Britain chose to leave the EU. Negotiations between the EU and Britain are resuming soon for the first time in several months. I hope that they generate a workable path forward. As the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill enters the House of Lords next week, I hope Lord McFall's colleagues can be voices of reason, moderation and foresight.

Another issue of concern to us that will soon be debated in the House of Lords is the British Government's legacy Bill, which provides a de facto amnesty for people who committed brutal crimes across this island, sometimes with state collusion. As I am sure everyone knows, this legislation has been rejected by every political party North and South as grievously insulting and clearly impermissible under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which mandates states to effectively investigate suspicious deaths. We look to the Westminster Parliament to uphold the rule of law and guarantee effective scrutiny and accountability. I very much hope the House of Lords can play a positive role in convincing the British Government to step back from this ledge. This crude attempt to whitewash history and impose impunity has no place in a democracy.

I thank Lord McFall for visiting us and for his willingness to have friendly but frank discussions about such important matters. There are many tasks ahead of us that require a strong diplomatic relationship between our countries. We must provide clarity and comfort to those impacted by legacy issues. We must support the return of power sharing in Northern Ireland, and we must come to a workable, final settlement on the Northern Ireland protocol. These are daunting challenges, but the legacy of the Good Friday Agreement demonstrates the transformative power of honesty, good faith and fair play.

The Lord Speaker will now respond. I thank him for his thoughtful address, in particular in remembering those who worked on the Good Friday Agreement who are no longer with us. The phrase often used by President McAleese at the time was: "Those who drink the water should remember those who dug the well". The Lord Speaker is one of those who dug that well, so I thank him for being here and sharing his thoughts on his role and also the work that we can continue to do together to improve relations. I invite the Lord Speaker to respond.

I thank Senators for their warm and wise words, which I will take back with me. They are very important. Mention was made of my stewardship of the Scotch Whisky All-Party Parliamentary Group. I was a little bit disappointed this morning when I was offered coffee or tea just before I got into the Taoiseach's office. I do not drink so Members need not worry about that.

I understand the political issues and they will be articulated in Westminster next week. The road ahead could be long and difficult but if we do not stay together on it then we will fail. The resolution is that we stay together. That element is very important. What has been mentioned about taking time to listen, whether it was to the Taoiseach's remarks earlier in Oxford or to Steve Baker, is that we do not understand each other. That is a feature. We have got to understand each other. We can only do that by face-to-face engagement. As far as I am concerned, that is the message from today.

Mention was made about muscular unionism. I have lived in Scotland all my life, 70 odd years, so I am as Scottish as anybody. If I am cut, the blood is Scottish. In regard to Scotland and the engagement referendum, if people have got to be convinced then they have to own an issue.

They must have pride in that issue. It is not a matter of restoring trust. It cannot be restored. Trust must be given; it cannot be restored. If people are going to be convinced, there is a sense of ownership. At the conference last Saturday, James Nesbitt of "Bloodlands" fame, mentioned that point from his unionist perspective. That respect is integral.

I mentioned that politics is difficult. We can have successes and failures. I spent the vast part of my life in teaching, as I mentioned. In the 1970s, I was a deputy headmaster in charge of pastoral care for pupils. I was involved in engagement and headed a truancy unit to get young kids into school. The social dimension was important, and that has lived with me. When I was an MP, I was invited to Barlinnie Prison in Glasgow during Christian Aid Week by one of the sisters who worked there. We had a good reception for the prisoners. On the way out, I saw a van coming in. Out of the van came a young fellow, handcuffed between two policeman. As I passed, I heard, "Hello, Mr. McFall". I turned around and said, "Hello, how are you?" He said to me, "How am I?" It was obvious how we was. With a bit of pride, he lifted himself up, looked over and said, "See Mr. McFall? He used to be my guidance teacher." There I was in charge of pastoral care and this young guy ends up in prison. What does that tell me? It tells me that failure is never fatal. It tells me that success is never final. Walk along the road with each other. I can only leave Senators with the inscription on Seamus Heaney's headstone, which reads, "Walk on air against your better judgment". Let us walk together with that spirit in mind.

I am honoured to thank Lord McFall and to do a summary not only because I am a Senator or because I am chair of committee A at the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, but also because I am from County Tyrone. I am a proud Tyrone woman.

Lord McFall is very welcome. The theme of today has been relationships. I reassure Lord McFall that is on the agenda of BIPA. On the sovereign committee, we are currently doing a report about the future relationship between Britain and Ireland or England and Ireland. The report touches on Anglo-Irish relations and the future relationship between the two sovereign Governments. We did not just lose a neighbour when the UK left the EU, we also lost the opportunity for those close relationships at EU meetings, those informal meetings about which Lord McFall was so articulate. We must find a way to replicate and replace those meetings.

I cannot let the opportunity pass without echoing the words of my colleagues in respect of the two Bills coming before the House of Lords. We see a chink of light with the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill but we do not see the same chink of light when it comes to the legacy Bill. Echoing what others have said today, I ask Lord McFall to bring back what he has heard, to listen to all the political parties on this island, and to the UN and the Council of Europe. Most importantly, I ask Lord McFall to listen to victims who are telling us that this is not the solution. We know the importance of the rule of law in Westminster. We are asking the UK to act in full compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Now that the mood music is changing with respect to the Northern Ireland protocol, I must say it is not just about the Assembly, which we desperately want to see up and running, but it is about the work of all of the institutions across the three strands of the Good Friday Agreement. It is great to hear Lord McFall echo that message about relationships. On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, we must bring it back to where it has been in the past. I thank Lord McFall.